The exaggerations and caveats found in press coverage on science and health can be traced to the very press releases that science journals issue about their published papers. This was the conclusion reached by a team from the Cardiff University schools of psychology and journalism, in Great Britain, who analyzed the content of 534 press releases put out in 2011 by journals like Science, Nature, and The Lancet, along with 582 news stories published by the British national press (PLOS ONE, December 15, 2016). However, according to the authors, the exaggerations in the press releases did not increase news coverage, nor did the appearance of caveats reduce press interest in studies.
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